The cockfighting arena of Teguise is once again in the spotlight. The Seprona received this Thursday a complaint stating that since February 2017 it has been holding cockfights "in an illegal facility and without the presence of a veterinarian to ensure their well-being", says the plaintiff, Remedios Alarcón. She, a member of the platform "No to Cockfights in Lanzarote", has also submitted a letter to the Town Hall of the town so that it "seals off the cockfighting arena" and "initiates the sanctioning procedure". This platform already managed to get the Council to prohibit cockfights in a public space, such as the agro-industrial complex of Teguise.
The cockfighting arena now has a facility, the Casa del Gallo, in La Villa de Teguise, specifically on Tazacorte Street, No. 9. According to the complaint, it is "a construction" closed of "15,000 m²", which they made in "summer of 2016". To this is added the fact that they proceeded to roof it "with metal sheets" and to place a "porexpan sandwich", to condition it for these cockfights, according to the complaint filed in the Town Hall of the municipality.
Therefore, he states in the letter that he incurs in an infraction of the Animal Protection Law of the Canary Islands, which establishes in its law 8/1991 as "legal the cockfighting arenas that already existed before 1990". Likewise, in the lawsuit to the Consistory, he assures that they do not know if "in the Foundational Statutes of the Casa del Gallo it expressly contemplates that cockfights can be held" or if the City Council "has been able to grant any type of authorization".
Likewise, the complaint to Seprona states that "there is no veterinarian present in the fights", which is one of the conditions established by law in its article 14. Thus, Alarcón assures that the animals that participate in the fights carried out by the Teguise cockfighting arena "have suffered the amputation of their crests and spurs"; a practice that is prohibited and that is considered "animal abuse".
"It does not have a zoological nucleus, nor a license, nor is it registered"
Other reasons to which he alludes to affirm "the illegality of the Teguise cockfighting arena is that it does not have a zoological nucleus, nor a license, nor is it registered as an association". In this sense, the complaint points out the lack of a "municipal opening" license, which they should have since "the fights are considered a public spectacle". Likewise, he comments that he is not aware that the cockfighting arena is registered in the "Register of Exploitations of the Canary Islands", which is also a condition that must be met according to the Animal Protection Law of the Canary Islands.
For all these reasons, in the letter to the City Council, the representatives of the platform "No to Cockfights in Lanzarote" urge "the Mayor President of this municipality to deign to give appropriate and immediate orders to seal off said cockfighting arena and initiate ex officio the sanctioning procedure established by the Regulation that develops the aforementioned Animal Protection Law". They also request an update of the law so that "the aforementioned fights are legally suppressed", which are only still being held in the Canary Islands and Andalusia.
The decision of Oswaldo Betancort's team not to allow cockfights in the agro-industrial space of Teguise was taken after the citizen platform denounced the use of public spaces for these fights. The debate on the celebration of these fights is especially on the rise since last year, especially since the animal protection society Sara promoted a collection of signatures asking for the prohibition of this practice.
The Animal Protection Law qualifies as "undesirable" the making of "lucrative business of shows based fundamentally on the mistreatment, suffering and death of animals". However, due to "some traditions rooted in areas of the islands" the law recognizes that "traditional and even cultural aspects can be argued in their defense", although, the text points out, "this Law promotes its natural disappearance". Among the mechanisms that it argues for this is the prohibition of its expansion, not promoting cockfights, not authorizing new facilities or not favoring transmission between generations, prohibiting access to minors under sixteen years of age"
